Liberty

Optional Rules

Reviewed by Charles Vasey

The following optional rules have been suggested by Liberty players. [CHV: These are to a degree a response to the hard luck stories of certain LIBERTY players.]

1) French Entry roll: At the end of:
1776: Roll 11 or higher (enter in 1777)
1777: Roll 8 or higher (enter in 1778)
1778: Roll 5 or higher (enter in 1779)
1779: Automatic (enter in 1780)

[CHV: This may be useful for tournament players. I would have preferred an increasing British VP requirement to keep out the French as in Bulge.]

2) Prisoner Exchange Rule: A player can use a Supply card (2 or 3) to force a Prisoner Exchange (assuming both players have at least one unit captured). Both players can then choose one of their own captured pieces and return it to their force pool.
[CHV: This is a dreadful rule permitting one to rescue the best units from combat, despite the likelihood that they suffered the most in combat. I suggest that the other player selects the returning unit if you must use this rule.]

3) British West Indies Forces: British forces in the West Indies can not be moved or used until the French enter the war.
[CHV: An attempt to model garrisoning.]

4) Extra Card Draw: Players draw one extra card each year (4 in 1775, and 6 each year thereafter). Each player then chooses one of those cards and returns it to the deck (not showing it to his opponent). Players then use the 5 cards in their hand (or the 3 in their hand in 1775) normally.
[CHV: Hard luck story at its best.]

5) Indian Home Defence: Whenever a blue block ends a move in an Indian home town, the corresponding Indian block is immediately returned to its home town (if it is currently on the map and unengaged) and defends it (at B2).
[CHV: Apparently wholly ahistorical.]

6) Draw Result: If the game does not end due to the British gaining 30 or more points, or the British being reduced to less than 12 points, then the players get a draw if the British hold 25-29 points at the end of 1783.
[CHV: I’m not sure what a draw means historically in these terms but it prevents game end tedium by giving one two targets.]

Liberty Review and Analysis

Back to Perfidious Albion #104 Table of Contents
Back to Perfidious Albion List of Issues
Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 2004 by Charles and Teresa Vasey.
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com